System for monitoring connection pattern of data ports

ABSTRACT

The present invention determines and monitors the connection pattern of data ports which are connected by multiconductor cables without requiring special patch cables or patch panels. An adapter jacket having an external contact is placed over a standardized cable such as an RJ45 cable which connects the data ports. An adapter board having a plurality of socket contacts is placed adjacent a plurality of data ports. An output and input module are coupled to the socket contacts. A micro-processor which is coupled to the output and input module scans the socket contacts to determine the connection pattern of the data ports.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of cabled systems and relatedcomputer peripheral devices, and more particularly to a system andmethod for determining interconnection pattern of data ports withoutrequiring special patching cables or patching panels.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The problems of tracking the interconnection pattern among the variousports in a local area network are well known to those skilled in theart. At least one system which deals with this problem is described inthe U.S. Pat. No. 5,483,467 entitled “Patching Panel Scanner”. Thepatent describes a patching panel scanner which automatically andcontinuously senses the interconnection arrangement of various portssuch as computer ports and user ports. In this type of system, theinterconnection between the ports are provided~by patching cables oralternatively by apparatus of internal connection in patching panelssuch as the CLPP cordless patching panel available from RIT TechnologiesLtd. of Tel Aviv, Israel.

In this type of system, in order to determine the interconnectivitypattern of the various ports, a conductor needs to interconnect theports and deliver a signal to the scanner indicating the connectionstatus of a particular port. In the modem computer era, it is actuallydifficult to provide a conductor for this purpose because most modemdata cables being used to interconnect various devices have to meet aparticular pre-determined standard in the industry. So for instance, astandard cable such as RJ45 eight wires per cable, each having an endwhich is adapted to mate with an RJ45 port. No free wire allows forscanning for interconnectivity.

Therefore, in the prior art scanner systems, the ports needed to beinterconnected via a patch panel which required a special patch cable oran apparatus of internal connections in the patch panels. In any case,the ports could not be connected directly using standard cables.Although the need for and desirability of having a scanner system whichcan utilize standard cables clearly exist, so far, the industry has beenunable to come up with such a system.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide asystem for monitoring and determining the interconnectivity of portswhich overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art system describedabove.

More particularly, it is an object of present invention to provide asystem for monitoring and determining the interconnectivity of portswhich does not require special patch panels or patch cables.

More particularly, it is an object of present invention to provide asystem for monitoring and determining the interconnectivity of portswhich utilizes standard connection cables.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention determines and monitors the connection pattern ofdata ports which are connected by multiconductor cables withoutrequiring special patch cables or patch panels. In order toelectronically determine the connectivity between one port to another,it is generally well understood that an electrical conductor needs toconnect one port to the other. Although this principle is well known, inthe modem era where many of the standardized cables such as RJ11 andRJ45 are used, it is difficult to provide this dedicated conductor forconnectivity-scanning purposes because each of the wires within thecable is used for a standardized purpose which may interfere with theconnectivity-scanning operation.

In the present connectivity monitoring system, a dedicated conductorwhich may be attached to an existing cable is provided. The conductorinteracts with an adapter board which is attached to a port where thecable is to be connected. To provide an additional contact point for thescanning operation, an adapter jacket is provided which attaches to anRJ45 jack. The adapter jacket is attached to the jack at both ends ofthe cable. The additional contact point for the scanning operation isprovided via an external contact located on the outside of the adapterjacket. An external conductor wire connects the external contact of thejack at each end of the cable such that the contact at each respectiveend will be electrically coupled to each other.

To provide a contact point for the external contact of the adaptorjacket at the port site, an adapter board is provided above the portsockets with each of the sockets having a socket contact. The socketcontact is positioned such that when the RJ45 jack having the adapterjacket is inserted into a socket, the contact of the adapter jacketelectrically mates with the socket contact of the adapter board.

In the overall system, the adapter board is coupled to an output moduleand an input module. The output driver module has a plurality of outputdrivers, and the receiver module has a plurality of latches (othersimilar electronic devices can be used instead of latches). Each of thesocket contacts is uniquely connected to one output driver and onelatch. The output module and the input module are both coupled to amicro-processor which is in turn coupled to a communication interface.The system may be coupled to a local area network or to a computer toreport the information regarding the connection pattern.

Both the output module and the input module can be implemented usingstandard IC devices. The main function of the output module is toprovide a plurality of output drivers which address the adaptor contactsand to send a signal to the contacts when instructed to do so by themicro-processor. The main function of the input module is to provide aplurality of latches (or other similar devices) which also address thecontacts and to receive the signal sent by the output drivers. Thecommunication interface can also be implemented using standard devicescurrently available to interface between the micro-processor and localarea network and electronic devices.

Now to describe the operation of the present system, the micro-processorhas pre-designated one output driver as a first driver and the socketcontact which it is connected to as the first contact. The latch in theinput module which is connected to the designated first contact isdesignated as the first latch, The port corresponding to the firstsocket contact is considered to be the first port. Another driver ispre-designated as a second driver, and its corresponding socket contactis designated as a second contact and its corresponding latch isdesignated as a second latch. The same designation scheme is applied tothird, fourth, fifth, and so on, driver/contact/latch groupings suchthat all groups are uniquely designated.

Initially, all of the socket contacts are at low state with no signalbeing sent to them by the output module. To monitor the connectivity ofthe various ports, the micro-controller causes the designated firstoutput driver to send out a pulse signal to the socket contact which themicro-controller has designated as the first contact. This places thefirst socket contact at a high state, and consequently, also places thefirst latch in the input module at the high state. After sending out thesignal, the micro-controller scans the input module for a latch having ahigh state. If only the first latch indicates a high, then themicro-controller concludes that no valid connection has been madebetween the first port and another port. If, however, a port other thanthe first port, port one, indicates a high state, for instance portseven, then the micro-controller concludes that the port is validlyconnected to port seven. Once the connectivity state of port one isdetermined, the result is stored in memory and the same process isrepeated for port two and so on until all of the ports' connectionstatus has been determined.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a perspective illustration of a current RJ45 cable which anbe adapted to work with the present system.

FIG. 1B is a perspective illustration of the RJ45 cable of FIG. 1A whichhas been fitted with an adapter jacket of the present invention,

FIG. 1C is an isolated perspective illustration of an adapter jacket ofthe present invention which is adapted for an RJ45 cable jack.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a plurality of RJ45 sockets fitted with anadapter board of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a simplified schematic illustration of the presentconnectivity monitoring system.

FIG. 4 is a simplified schematic illustration which shows the receiverlatches. relationship between the output drivers, the socket contacts,and the

FIGS. 5, 5A, 5B, 5C illustrate various other standard cables which canbe adapted for use with the present system.

FIGS. 6, 6A, 6B, 6C illustrate various other standard cables which canbe adapted for use with the present system.

FIGS. 7, 7A, 7B, 7C illustrate various other standard cables which canbe adapted for use with the present system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In order to electronically determine the connectivity between one portto another, it is generally well understood that an electrical conductorneeds to connect one port to the other. Although this principle is wellknown, in the modem era where many of the standardized cables such asRJ11 and RJ45 are used, it is difficult to provide this dedicatedconductor for connectivity-scanning purposes because each of the wireswithin the cable is used for a standardized purpose which may interferewith the connectivity-scanning operation. Although it may be possible toshare an existing wire in the cable for the scanning operation, thiswould require additional circuitry for differentiating between thesignals used for the scanning purposes and the signals used for otherpurposes such as data transfer. Moreover, in many cases, it may beimpossible to effectively share an existing wire or conductor.

In the present connectivity monitoring system, a dedicated conductorwhich may be attached to an existing cable is provided, The conductorinteracts with an adapter board which is attached to a port where thecable is to be connected. Although in describing the preferredembodiment of the present invention, a specific cable/port combinationutilizing a common standard such as RJ45 will be shown, it should beappreciated that this is done for illustration purposes only, and is notmeant to limit the present invention to this illustrative example.

Now in referring to FIG. 1A, a standard RJ45 cable 3 having a jack 5 isshown. Although only one end of the cable is shown here in FIG. 1A forillustration purposes, it should be understood that a similar jack isattached to the other end of the cable. The RJ45 jack 5 has eightstandard contact points 6. To provide an additional contact point forthe scanning operation, an adapter jacket 7, FIG. 1C, is provided whichattaches to the RJ45 jack as shown in FIG. 1B. The adapter jacket isattached to the jack 5 at both ends of the cable 3 (though only one isshown in the figure). The additional contact point for the scanningoperation is provided via an external contact 8 located on the outsideof the adapter jacket 7. An external conductor wire 9 connects theexternal contact 8 of the jack 5 at each end of the cable 3 such thatthe contact 8 at each respective end will be electrically coupled toeach other.

Now referring to FIG. 2, a plurality of RJ45 sockets is shown which arestandard sockets which mate with a standard RJ45 jack. The sockets maybe ports for a network equipment such as a 10 Base-T hub, PABX, andkey-phone system, or may be part of a patch panel, though a specialpatch panel is not required for a successful operation of the presentsystem. To provide a contact point for the external contact 8 of theadaptor jacket 7, an adapter board 14 is provided above the sockets 12with each of the sockets 12 having a socket contact 15. The socketcontact 15 is positioned such that when the RJ45 jack 5 having theadapter jacket 7, as shown in FIG. 1B, is inserted into a socket 12 ofFIG. 2, the contact 8 of the adapter jacket 7 electrically mates withthe socket contact 15 of the adapter board 14. Although here the adapterboard 14 is shown to carry a plurality of socket contacts 15, it isentirely possible, and sometimes desirable, to have an adapter board 14which carries only one socket contact which is used on a single isolatedsocket.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a simplified schematic illustration of thepresent system 1 is shown. The adaptor board 14 of FIG. 2 is coupled toan output module 18 and input module 19. As shown in more detail in FIG.4, the output driver module 18 has a plurality of output drivers 20, andthe receiver module 19 has a plurality of latches 25 (other similarelectronic devices can be used instead of latches). Each of the socketcontacts 15 is uniquely connected to one output driver 20 and one latch25. The output module 18 and the input module 19 are both coupled to amicro-processor 21 which is in turn coupled to a communication interface22. The system 1 may be coupled to a local area network 23 or to acomputer 24 to report the information regarding connectivity.

Now to describe the system 1 in greater detail, the adapter board 14shown in FIG. 3 is placed over port sockets (not shown in FIG. 3 butshown in FIG. 2). The micro-processor 21 has pre-designated one outputdriver as a first driver and the socket contact which it is connected toas the first contact. The latch in the input module 19 which isconnected to the designated first contact is designated as the firstlatch. The port corresponding to the first socket contact is consideredto be the first port.

Both the output module and input module can be implemented usingstandard IC devices. The main function of the output module 18 is toprovide a plurality of output drivers 20 which address adaptor contacts15 and to send a signal to the contacts 15 when instructed to do so bythe micro-processor 21. The main function of the input module 19 is toprovide a plurality of latches 25 (or other similar devices) which alsoaddress the contacts 15 and to receive the signal sent by the outputdrivers. The communication interface 22 can also be implemented usingstandard devices currently available to interface between themicro-processor 21 and local area network 23 and electronic devices.Another driver is pre-designated as a second driver, and itscorresponding socket contact is designated as a second contact and itscorresponding latch is designated as a second latch. The samedesignation scheme is applied to third, fourth, fifth, and so on,driver/contact/latch groupings such that all groups are uniquelydesignated. Of course, the designations are somewhat arbitrary and theparticular designation number or scheme is not important so long as theindividual groupings are uniquely traceable by the micro-controller 21.

Initially, all of the socket contacts 15 are at low state with no signalbeing sent to them by the output module 18. To monitor the connectivityof the various ports, the micro-processor 21 causes the designated firstoutput driver to send out a pulse signal to the socket contact 15 whichthe micro-processor 21 has designated as the first contact. This placesthe first socket contact at a high state, and consequently, also placesthe first latch in the input module 19 at the high state. After sendingout the signal, the micro-processor 21 scans the input module 19 for alatch having a high state. If only the first latch indicates a high,then the micro-processor 21 concludes that no valid connection has beenmade between the first port and another port. If, however, a port otherthan the first port, port one, indicates a high state, for instance portseven, then the micro-processor 21 concludes that the port 1 is validlyconnected to port seven. Once the connectivity state of port one isdetermined, the result is stored in memory and the same process isrepeated for port two and so on until all of the ports' connectionstatus has been determined.

While other scanning scheme can be employed with the present system, thescheme described above is the one employed in the preferred embodiment.The advantage of the scheme described above is that it allows any portto be connected to any other port. This is unlike patch panel scanningsystems where one panel may need to be designated as the input panel,and the other panel is designated as the output panel, and a cable needsto connect a port from the output panel to a port from the input panel.The cable cannot connect, for instance, a port from the input panel toanother port from the same input panel. This feature is particularlyuseful for the present invention because no special patch panels arerequired, and so the ports may be randomly spread out in no particularorder.

Although the present invention has been illustrated using the RJ45standard, one skilled in the art should appreciate that the presentinvention can be implemented using other existing standards. Some suchexamples are shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7, where the currently availableSC connectors, ST connectors, and BNC connectors, respectively, arefitted with an adapter jacket and their respective ports are providedwith an adapter board.

In FIGS. 5, 5A, 5B, and 5C, a standard SC connector 30 is fitted with anadaptor jacket 31 having a contact 32 to yield an adapted SC connector33. Also, the SC connector sockets 35 have been fitted with adaptorboards 34 with adaptor contact points 36.

In FIGS. 6, 6A, 6B, and 6C, a standard ST connector 40 is fitted with anadaptor jacket 41 having a contact 42 to yield an adapted ST connector44. Also, the ST connector sockets 45 have been fitted with adaptorboards 44 with adaptor contact points 46.

In FIGS. 7, 7A, 7B, and 7C, a standard BNC connector 50 is fitted withan adaptor jacket 51 having a contact 52 to yield an adapted BNCconnector 55. Also, the BNC connector sockets 55 have been fitted withadaptor boards 54 with adaptor contact points 56.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. Thepresently disclosed embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in allrespects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the inventionbeing indicated by the appended claims and all changes which come withinthe meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are, therefore, to beembraced therein.

I claim:
 1. Apparatus for interconnecting a plurality of datatransmission cables in a system for electronically detecting theinterconnection of said data transmission cables, said apparatuscomprising: a patch panel comprising a housing having a front surface; aplurality of sockets disposed in said front surface, said plurality ofsockets comprising a plurality of side walls extending rearwardly fromsaid front surface to form a plurality of cavities rearward of saidfront surface, said plurality of sockets each adapted to receive a datatransmission cable; a plurality of external contacts, each of saidplurality of external contacts comprising an electrically isolatedconductive member disposed on said front surface adjacent acorresponding one of said plurality of sockets; and a plurality ofleads, each of said plurality of leads being individually connected toone of said electrically isolated conductive members, said plurality ofleads further interconnecting said electrically isolated conductivemembers to a micro-processor for sending and receiving signals throughsaid leads indicative of the interconnection of said data transmissioncables.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein: each of said plurality ofexternal contacts comprises a conductive pad.
 3. The apparatus of claim1, wherein: said plurality of external contacts are disposed on anadapter board mountable on said front surface of said housing.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein: said data transmission cable comprises afirst connector and second connector and a multi-conductor cabletherebetween, each of said first and second connectors comprising anoutward-facing distal end insertable into one of said plurality ofsockets, said data transmission cable further comprising an externalcontact disposed proximate each of said first and second connectors;said external contacts adapted to contact one of said electricallyisolated conductive members when one of said first and second connectorsis inserted into one of said plurality of sockets.
 5. The apparatus ofclaim 4, further comprising a conductor extending between said externalcontacts, said conductor separate from said data transmission cable. 6.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said plurality of sockets areconstructed to accept an RJ11 or RJ45 Jack.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein said data transmission cables comprise RJ11 or RJ45 Jacks.